


Beelzebub Has a Devil Set Aside for Me

by montmorency



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), Tommy Ratliff (Musician)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-17
Updated: 2012-03-17
Packaged: 2017-11-02 02:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/364113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/montmorency/pseuds/montmorency
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fluff. Pure, unadulterated, unapologetic fluff.</p><p>Also, this is fiction; it never happened. For entertainment only.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beelzebub Has a Devil Set Aside for Me

“Puppy,” Adam announces happily one hot summer day.

“Puppy?” asks Tommy. “Are you sure this is a good time?” He’s chopping veggies at the kitchen counter while a frying pan heats on the stovetop.

Adam grins. “Mom says she’ll take care of our puppy anytime we tour together.”

“Leila’s so rad.” Tommy dumps all the veggies into a bowl of raw eggs and stirs.

Adam refills Tommy’s coffee mug. “They’re having the annual Puppy Adoption Bark-a-thon at the Anaheim Convention Center today and tomorrow.”

Tommy blows out a puff of breath, stirring his bangs. He sips his coffee. “Anaheim? Gross.” He pours the egg mixture into the pan. Everything sizzles tantalizingly.

“It’s right off the freeway.”

“It’s right next to the fucking Happiest Place on Earth.”

“We’ll make a surgical strike. Get in, find a puppy, get out.”

“Not how I was planning to spend my Saturday, battling our way down the San Diego Freeway and queuing up to get off at the Disneyland exit.”

Adam makes a sad face. “But… puppy?” he says hopefully.

“Is this the only place to get a puppy?”

Adam frowns. “No? Except come on, these puppies need homes. We would be doing our good deed for the day.”

Tommy sighs and stirs frustratedly at the Western omelet until Adam gets behind him and pushes Tommy’s head down so he can kiss the nape of the slender neck.

“You don’t fight fair,” Tommy grouses.

* * *

Around two p.m. they get into the parking garage for the convention center with less trouble than they had expected. The center itself is enormous and filled with the sounds of joyous barking and the screams of small children who are running willy-nilly around the place, chasing after puppies or just randomly crashing into people.

“They should sell child leashes here, forget about dog leashes,” Tommy observes.

They stroll among stalls run by different shelters from around Orange and Los Angeles and Riverside Counties. It’s about half adult dogs and half puppies. 

At one booth a gruff little puppy darts out and grabs the end of the lace on Tommy’s shoe. He leans down to pet it, and smiles at the people in the booth.

“That’s Thor, he’s very friendly,” says the nice lady who appears to be in charge of this area.

Tommy sits down on the floor and lets the puppy sniff his fingers. Thor darts forward and back, eventually stopping long enough to lick Tommy’s fingers and then bark excitedly. Tommy tilts his head up and smiles at Adam.

“He’s part boxer and part Welsh sheepdog,” the lady continues. “We’re guessing he will weigh around forty-five pounds when he’s grown.”

Adam pushes the toe of his boot against Tommy’s thigh. “That means he’s a mutt,” he says.

“Actually,” says the lady, going into teacher mode, “mixed breeds are generally friendlier and more adaptable to new situations than purebreds.”

“He’s cute,” Tommy says. By now Thor is pretty much sitting in Tommy’s lap, butting his head against Tommy’s hands to make sure he doesn’t step petting.

“He’s going to be very handsome when he’s grown.” She smiles encouragingly at Tommy. “Do you have a fenced yard? This type of dog needs plenty of exercise.”

Adam crouches down and pets the puppy. “We do, plus I go running on park trails most mornings.”

“Perfect!” she says. “Why don’t you two spend some more time with Thor and get to know him. Or any of the other dogs here. We have thirteen ready for adoption.”

“Thanks,” Adam says with a nod, and she moves away.

Tommy scratches behind Thor’s ears. Adam sits cross-legged next to Tommy and stares into Thor’s eyes until Thor looks away. 

A tiny puppy with wavy, silky fur stumbles against Adam. “Hey, who are you?” Adam coos, picking up the little creature so he can get a close look. The puppy puts a miniature paw against his lips. “Oh, you’re a player, aren’t you?” Adam laughs delightedly and rubs his nose against the puppy’s. The puppy licks him.

The friendly lady comes back around. “Making new friends?”

Adam says, “She’s a little charmer, I want her. It’s a her, right?”

The lady nods. “Bella is a purebred toy Pom. She has some medical needs that can be expensive, so even though everyone loves her, not just anyone can adopt her.”

“Is she healthy? Will she live?” Adam asks, looking up worriedly.

“She’ll be fine. She needs daily medication. It’s a little expensive, that’s all, but as long as she has regular checkups with a vet and gets her medicine routinely, she’s going to be a happy, healthy little dog.” The lady smiles. “Give it some thought. I’ll be back in awhile.” She moves away.

“I want to adopt her,” Adam announces.

Tommy’s head whips around. “Oh no you don’t,” he says matter-of-factly. “That’s a purse dog. You need a purse to walk that one. No way.”

Adam pouts. “But look at her!” He holds Bella up and faces her towards Tommy. “She’s all silky and fluffy and pretty and adorbs and sweet and --“

“Hell no, no way I’m walking with you on the street with a dog in a purse.”

“Pleeeeeeze,” Adam begs.

“No.” Tommy is firm. “We’re getting a dog that’s a real dog. No purse dogs!”

“But purse dogs are so adorbs and it’s a murse anyway.”

Tommy strokes Thor’s head and rolls his eyes. “Look what I have to put up with, like, daily. Are you sure you want to come home with me?”

“But Tommeeeeeeeee,” Adam pouts even harder than before.

“Stop pouting, you look like a dork,” Tommy informs him. 

Adam clutches Bella to his chest. “Don’t listen to the mean kitty,” he says confidentially to her.

Tommy snorts. He holds up Thor. “We’re taking this one.”

“What the fuck? Why can’t I have a puppy I want, too? Not fair.”

“Omifuckingod the pouting, I gotta get away from it,” Tommy says, putting Thor down and standing up. He yanks at the back of his jeans to get them over his underwear. There are children around here, after all.

Adam gets up, too, Bella still against his chest, pawing at his chin. “Please please please, I love her so much already.”

“For fuck’s sake, okay, we’ll take them both,” Tommy complains. Adam leans over and for a moment it’s like he might kiss Tommy but Tommy puts a stop to that right away. “Don’t you dare glomp me in public,” he says.

Adam blinks. “Glomp?” 

Tommy shakes his head. “Keep your distance.”

That puts a predatory gleam in Adam’s eyes. Without losing eye contact with Tommy, he crouches to set Bella carefully on the floor. Once he’s standing again, looming over Tommy, he grins crookedly.

“Oh no you don’t,” Tommy says uncertainly, taking a step back.

“We’re getting a puppy, right?” Adam asks. “My puppy. You don’t have what it takes to say no to me.”

“Yeah, I do,” Tommy argues uselessly, poised to flee. 

Adam moves forward and suddenly Tommy’s running around the convention floor, pursued by Adam. They nearly collide with some toddlers, stumbling to avoid them, laughing like lunatics. Two or three full-grown dogs decide it's a game and chase after them.

Adam corners Tommy – albeit a fairly willing Tommy – down an empty, echoing hallway where the sounds of barking and shrieking are far distant enough to be muted. The dogs see that they're not going to get any attention from the humans and saunter back the way they came.

“No fair pouting!” Tommy whines. Adam smushes Tommy against a huge concrete column, pressing into him from shoulders to groin to knees.

“You agreed this morning we can get a puppy,” Adam says happily, nuzzling at Tommy’s neck.

“Thor,” says Tommy, arms sneaking around Adam’s neck.

“Bella,” Adam corrects.

“You took advantage in public. You were gonna kiss me!”

Adam’s eyes are bright with love. “It’s hard not to kiss you all the time, baby.”

Tommy slumps a little. “How do you do this to me?”

“I’m a sex god?”

“Nice ego, dude.”

Adam touches his lips to Tommy’s. “Fuck being a sex god, all I want is for you to love me,” he says, lips brushing Tommy’s as he speaks.

Tommy emits a tiny squeak and squeezes his eyes shut.

“I’ll kiss you right now,” Adam whispers, lips still against Tommy’s, “if you say we can adopt Bella.”

“Kiss me, fucker,” Tommy hisses raggedly. “No rules.”

So Adam kisses him, very thoroughly as it turns out. Someone might have come around the corner in the middle of it, then thought better and left without a word. It’s not like Adam or Tommy noticed.

By the time the kiss is over, Tommy’s body is melded to Adam’s, curving where it curves, soft and warm. “Mmm, why’d we leave home anyway?” he mumbles, eyes blissfully closed.

“To get a puppy?” Adam says brightly, squeezing Tommy’s waist and drawing away. 

Tommy makes grumpy sounds, reaching for Adam.

“Let’s get a puppy and then we can go home and take a nap. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Tommy opens one eye. “It's your fault I can't move now. Carry me to the car.”

Adam scoffs. “I can’t carry you and a dog.”

“If we don’t get the purse dog, you won’t have to carry it.”

“Oh, you,” Adam says fondly, taking Tommy’s hand and pulling him away from the column. By the time they get back to the convention floor, he lets Tommy’s hand slide away.

The lady is waiting for them. “There you are!” she says with a giant smile. "I think our puppies were wondering where you went."

Tommy picks up Thor, who is trying to climb his leg, and holds him out to her as though she’s a store clerk. “We’ll take this one!”

“Hold your horses, young man, we have to ask you some questions to make sure your house and lifestyle will be suitable.”

Tommy realizes she’s not going to take Thor and bag him and ring up a sale, so he cuddles Thor in his arms. “We have a very nice house. Stop pouting, Adam.”

“I’m sure you do,” the lady says, “so let’s go over to the table and talk about things. There’s some paperwork first and the adoption fee and a number of other issues.”

Tommy looks at Adam. Adam is glaring. Tommy glares back, then follows the lady to the back area of the booth, not letting go of Thor. In a moment Adam comes over with Bella. He stares forcefully at Tommy.

“Oh, are you thinking of adopting two puppies today? These two are already friends so you’ve made a very good choice.”

Tommy and Adam indulge in a bit more of their staring contest, coupled with minute eyebrow lifts and almost-there shoulder hunches and hints of curled lip, before Tommy finally sighs and Adam plops down in the plastic chair next to him, grinning like a dork. The lady smiles indulgently, like she can read every thought in their minds.

After they buy two puppy carriers and two dog beds and some chew toys and and high-quality puppy chow and leashes and halters and a lot of other crap, the lady closes the carrier doors on Bella and Thor. “I hope those two don’t cuddle you to death,” she says fondly. 

Adam leans in and stage-whispers through the carrier doors, “It’ll be worth it.”

"I'll get him a purse at Nordie's," Tommy assures Bella, in case she was concerned.

The drive home is somehow worse than the drive down to Anaheim, largely because there are two puppies barking and whining the whole way, plus of course an accident causes a slow-and-go for three miles on 405 North. 

The remainder of the afternoon is spent playing with the puppies, who finally poop out after the sun sets, snuggled against Tommy, as he finally manages to grab a nap on the chaise lounge out on the deck. 

Adam brings him freshly squeezed lemonade with ice cubes clattering merrily in a tall glass. He lifts the no-longer-needed sunglasses from Tommy’s face. Tommy scrunches his nose. “I was sleeping,” he says.

Adam sits on the edge of the chaise and strokes Thor’s back. “Should we give them new names?”

“The nice lady said it’s a good idea,” Tommy agrees. “To help them bond with us.”

Adam lays a hand on Tommy’s thigh, next to Bella, who’s curled into a silky ball on Tommy’s lap. “They’ve already bonded with you, looks like.”

“They figured out who’s boss already. Smart dogs.”

“Got any ideas for names?”

“Beelzebub and Lucifer?”

Adam chortles, taking a sip from Tommy’s lemonade. “I don’t think so. We’ll think of something.”

“Later,” says Tommy. “Gimme that before you drink it all.”

Adam complies. “You’re going to be alpha dog in this household, aren’t you?”

“Already was, why stop now,” Tommy says agreeably, slurping lemonade through the straw that Adam thoughtfully provided.

“Oh the irony,” Adam says, as the last of the light goes from the sky.


End file.
